• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 13, 2011

What do you keep? What do you give away? Take a big breath. In this digital world, as it concerns TV, you need to do both. And maybe give more away free than you think.

TV sellers are thinking more about this unsettling formula. Some newspaper publishers already have a plan. The New York Times will allow its visitors to look at 20 stories a month for free. If they want more, it's going to cost them.

For some time, Hulu and other TV providers have been struggling with this. Many viewers are mostly using the free Hulu -- the one where you can see the last five episodes of a recent TV show. Any more than that -- or accessing older library shows -- will cost you.

Look for more shifts in cable TV content. Cable has always been synonymous with pay TV. But consumers want a new-wave formula of pay and free. Thus there is concern over cord-cutters -- or, the more passive form. cord-shavers (where consumers may scale back their premium cable TV options like HBO).

Music labels might take note here. Digital platforms -- featuring lots of free, mostly illegal content -- rose up and swamped the business. That built unwanted consumer behavior -- a surge in the belief that consumers could always get music for free.

TV sellers, of course, don't want that to happen -- and, so far, have sent out the message that free TV/video viewing may be limited. Many consumers are adjusting, uneasily, to all of this, but will probably be ready to pay more for content, as long as meaningful stuff -- you know, full TV shows -- continues to be free.

Why the importance of free? It's used to promote, to tease, to spin some future endeavor. Even straightforward new age digital content has had growing pains around this. Recently, thousands of bloggers who had their work appear on The Huffington Postt said they wanted to get paid. And legal activity has started up.

Huffington Post spokesman Mario Ruiz wrote in an e-mail: "As we've said before, our bloggers use our platform -- as well as other unpaid group blogs across the web -- to connect and help their work be seen by as many people as possible. It's the same reason people go on TV shows: to promote their views and ideas."

Note that The Huffington Post also has a paid model. The email goes on to say: "We operate a journalistic enterprise with hundreds of paid staff editors, writers, and reporters."

A Comcast executive at this week's NAB event would agree. Richard Buchanan, VP- GM of content services, says: "The toughest decision in this business paradigm is what do you sell and what do you give away? And right from the start, you better get that right. A good partner in the [content] ecosystem rewards everyone along the food chain."

In other words, everyone needs to be paid. But just what is anyone's guess.